How can Crowfall be made with less than $10 million in this day and age? That’s the big question of the day that Executive Producer Gordon Walton decided to answer for fans at this year’s International Game Developers Association meeting.

“We’re doing a much smaller than normal MMO by choosing to be PvP-focused, doing algorithmic world generation, tight (but effective!) constraints on character customization and heavily reliance on off-the-shelf technologies,” Walton said. “Our cost for the core game will be in the $6 million range.”

The funding for Crowfall will be a combination of early investers, Kickstarter monies, continued donations on the website, licensing foreign rights, and securing additional investments. The game’s current stretch goal is aiming to hire an additional graphics programmer and localize for six additional languages.

If you’re interested in the business side of MMO development, Walton pointed fans to an IGDA panel that you can watch here:

Have you ever wanted to be a grim reaper? In Crowfall, you can. And for once it is a mutually beneficial proposition! A new FAQ enlightens players on the nature and use of Thralls, which are the souls of fallen warriors and craftsmen trapped in the world and unable to move on. Though they serve players in such roles as vendors, craftsmen, trainers, and guards, these souls aren’t slaves; they are earning their redemption by serving players for a period of time. How many of these temporary minions players can utilize is limited only by the number of soul-capturing gems they have in their inventories.

Crowfall is delivering a two-for-one dev update today, starting with lore behind the Myrmidon. The Myrmidon is a minotaur that made it into the game thanks to an early stretch goal. According to the game lore, the Myrmidon was created by a trickster god so that “the hunter must never forget how it feels to be hunted.”

The devs also posted a video showing the creation of the female Confessor’s 3-D avatar by the game’s artists. Get a first look at the Confessor after the break!